A/N- Hey guys!

First off, I wanna thank the very attentive ShiningStellar! Thanks for telling me about the name I used being different. The only thing I can say is that I wrote this during my sleeping tine, so I was practically DEAD when writing and proofing this chapter. I've amended the chapter!

Sorry for anybody who may have been disturbed by the imagery... (lol... BIXLOW AND ALZACK)

- I guess a lot of you are surprised by the twist I put in the previous chapter. I'm afraid I had to put the poor old man up to that role, or we would have made no progress in the story; still sniff sniff it was hard to read about myself afterwards myself...

Thank you all my other reviewers as well, you are all wonderful people.

Also, I hadn't updated for a few days due to exams. As some may know, I had some this week. I'm finished now! I'll try to update as often I can now its holidays.

Anyway, enjoy the next chapter!

NOTE- sorry if it seems a little messy; I'm writing this while trying to stay awake... :3

Chapter 7

...

Dear Mum,

Today the master told us who would go into the S-class exams; I wasn't chosen as a candidate. It was also Blaze's birthday, but I made him cry. Birthdays are supposed to be fun, but he was just worried about me and slept in front of my bedroom door. I was angry because of the exam nominations and shouted out that I didn't want to see him. Does that make me a bad friend? Blaze forgave me, but I still feel bad. I don't to lose my best friend because of my selfishness, so I promise never to hurt him again, even if it kills me.

Lots of love from a very sorry son,

Lee Grayson
xxx

P.S Please wake up soon! We miss you so much!

...

"Hey guys, I'm home! It's great to be back!" Natsu slammed the Guild doors, shouting his arrival to the world. He noticed the stares from all directions, not welcoming but instead, almost... hostile. Backing up slightly, he immediately went on the defensive.

"Hey, what's up guys? I didn't destroy the city again, promise!" his reaction brought several exasperated sighs, but did not raise the atmosphere like usual. Natsu felt the like he stepped into an unknown world; the guild was never like this. Never.

He looked up, waiting for the old man to appear. When he did not, the dragon slayer felt frustration and slight annoyance. Where was his usual welcome? Lisanna touched his hand gently, appeasing him slightly. However, Natsu still felt his suspicions rising.

"Where's Master Makarov? He promised to be here when I returned." He looked around to see a few heads go down quickly; his fears increased when even Romeo looked away from him. "Romeo? Answer me, where is Makarov? Where's Mirajane and Erza? Gray?"

Somebody coughed surprisingly at the mention of Gray, catching Natsu's attention. His eyes narrowed in warning; he was waiting for an answer and he WAS going to get an answer, even if he found out himself. He walked towards the stairs, in an attempt to look into the master's office; he did not expect the loud shouts or several people holding him back.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

Romeo cleared his throat, knowing there was no way out of this situation.

"Natsu, something bad happened while you were gone."

...

knock knock

"I'll get it!"

Lee hurried to open the door; his mood had gotten better within the past week. He still wanted to get back at his father but Blaze, Gray and the celestial spirits helped him during his time of depression. They had made him look at the bigger picture; if he hadn't been good enough to pass this year then it was only an indication to try harder. Because of that, he had decided to train harder before challenging the man to a fight.

Upon opening the door, he met with somebody unfamiliar. A blue haired lady stood on the other side, smiling gently.

"Hey there, you must be Lee, right? Is Gray inside by any chance?"

"Let me check if he's busy right now." Lee closed the door and called for his guardian, who appeared from the kitchen. "Gray! There's a blue haired lady outside. She wants to talk to you."

Gray nodded and opened the door to meet an old friend, Wendy Marvell. Lee went back to continue his game with Blaze and Taurus.

"Wendy! It's been a long time. Come in!"

"It really has! I arrived last night to chaos in the guild. However, we can talk about our adventures later." As Wendy stepped in, she gave Gray a serious look. "You might know why I'm here today; I can't stay and talk for long."

The man closed the door and led her into a small room before allowing her to continue. "Please go on."

"I came home to hear of the incident last week. However, what you may not know is that something serious happened afterwards; Master Makarov suffered from a major heart attack. I believe it was during this time that a small confession was made. The guild now knows that Lee is Natsu's son; how they didn't figure out sooner is beyond me as Lee is an exact replica of his father." She walked around the room, nervous to look Gray in the eye. However, the matter had to be communicated, so she forced herself to stop and stare straight at the man

"Another thing is that Natsu has returned. He hasn't yet been told the full story, only that there was a small fight, which had lead to the heart attack. Nonetheless, he had to be told of your involvement in this and because of this, you have to be cautious not to appear before him until he cools down enough to see reason. The guild is doing everything to keep him under control; if Lee wants to fight Natsu now, he may be killed. That man has never had any control of his emotions and any fight now may lead to serious injuries on the other party; he is at his emotional high and should not be disturbed."

"One more concern before I go. As you may have already guessed, I am watching over the Master during his recuperation. It is my advice, as his doctor, that you and Loki can visit him to discuss the incident last week. I can understand your point of view. There was no need for Makarov to do such a thing; promises should not be made if one has no plans to honour it."

Wendy looked up gravely "On the other hand, please look at the situation from Makarov's eyes as well. He is the father to a man who hates his guts and is the master of a dark guild. His own experiences from fighting his son had resulted in this current circumstance and he did not want the same to happen between Natsu and Lee. Though he may have been misguided in his actions, he had pure intentions and you must acknowledge that. I know I wasn't there to help Lucy from the onslaught of abuse that she received 12 years ago, but I am confident that her greatest wish would have been to reunite the family. Your agreement to talk with the master can fulfil that wish. Please think about this, Gray, and make sure to talk to Loki about this too. I'll let myself out; you know how to contact me if you decide to meet."

Wendy walked out, giving the ice mage time to think. The healing mage had left thirteen years ago –to participate in an extremely long research mission. It was a top secret mission and, from what Gray had heard, she was still heavily involved in the case throughout her absence. Had she been present at the time of Lucy's pregnancy, he knew that she would have known Lucy's condition and given her support. Her presence could mean only one of two things; she had completed the private mission or, she was not able to carry on her research due to other reasons.

Gray just stared at the ceiling for a while, not bothering to try and begin cooking lunch again.

"You might as well come out now, Loki. Wendy isn't here anymore." Coughing slightly, Loki swung open the cupboard door and unravelled himself in a way that displayed a familiarity for such places. "Since you were EAVESDROPPING, it should be clear what was being said. The question now is, do we agree to meet Makarov to settle our differences."

The lion spirit sighed. "It would seem that would be the most appropriate action at this moment. Like Wendy has mentioned, we didn't take Makarov's feelings into consideration and, by doing so, we may have made this situation one hundred times worse. Had we not done such a public display of ourselves, the Master may not be in such a precarious position, right now." He leaned against the table, smiling slightly. "What I would like to say is that I'm surprised Wendy has recognised Lee's parents so quickly after the first meeting. Fluke, you think?"

"I wouldn't believe so." Gray just grinned proudly. "That is my baby sis we're talking about. Never underestimate her powers of analysis. She is a mage that specialises in health, so you would imagine that she's one smart cookie, as well. She's grown so much in thirteen years, it's unbelievable!"

"Your baby sister? You must be joking!" Loki gave the other man a once over. "From what I could tell, it's amazing that you speak the same language, you're so different."

"ha bloody ha. Go wank yourself, dirty bastard."

...

Wendy had agreed to meet the men behind a cafe. With the way Natsu had been acting within the guild, it was extremely important for Gray and Loki not to get caught. The guild members, aside from Natsu and Lisanna, were in on the plan. They were willing to try anything to get the guild running properly again, even agreeing to forgive the two men for being a major cause of the attack. Wearing identical hoods and cloaks, they looked almost identical, with similar builds and heights; the only difference was their change in hair colour and nature. They agreed to split and make their own way into the master's sick room.

Loki used the shadows to his advantage; a light user, he was able to see in absolute darkness and he used this to hide in the dark places of the guild. Gray had designed his ice to become a second human body; the difference would only be noticed when touched, wherein which the clone retained its cold features and brittle nature. He moulded the ice to give him a similar figure to Gildarts, or Elfman (A/N no dirty thoughts, people). Using the ice clone, he created enough of a distraction to slip past the members and sprint up the stairs to the office-turned-sickroom. Loki had arrived several seconds before.

On seeing the old man so frail in bed, both men felt their hearts clench. Makarov was laying in bed, pale and unmoving. He looked to have aged ten years in the past week; the joy and confidence gone from his expressions. Standing beside the bed, they saw the Guild Master stir before opening his eyes slowly. A sad smile crossed his face on recognising his visitors.

"Gray... Loki..."

"Shh... Have a drink first," Gray held a glass of water to the man's lips, giving him time to drink and rehydrate. "We can wait."

After drinking his fill, the master looked up and sighed. "There are a few reasons why I wanted your presence here. One was to apologise; if possible, I would very much like it for Lee and Blaze to return to the guild. If you can convince Lee to remain another year without challenging, I will be willing to permit his fight with Natsu, whether he is nominated for the next exam or not."

"That can be arranged. He has been agreeing to further training and was not planning to challenge anytime soon."

"That's good. Hrmph," Makarov sat up, ready to speak of the next matter "However, that is not the main reason I called for your attention today. It regards the mission Wendy took thirteen years before. A mission which she finally completed in the past week."

Waiting for more information, Loki and Gray did not have any idea as to what the old man was about to say. Wendy addressed the subject to them instead, hoping to give them a detailed enough overview before their time ran out.

"The mission has some relation to what happened to Lucy during her pregnancy. In fact, I was not the only one to be given the order, all three dragon slayers was to follow. We were all collecting information on a certain dark guild." The blue haired doctor walked to the door to ensure total privacy. Gray frowned upon remembering such a thing; all the dragon slayers had left on a mission together, each with their cat partners and nobody else. Only Natsu had returned, announcing his completion to the entire town. "Gajeel and Natsu followed through their orders, as did I, but Natsu had a problem which led to his early completion. He had only discovered part of the information needed, affecting the entire research and also being the major cause behind why he chose to believe the bandits twelve years ago."

Clearing her throat, Wendy looked at the ceiling, deep in thought. "Our mission was to discover the secrets behind the dark guild 'Dragon's Claw'. It is a guild known for their efforts to emulate the dragon slayers; their history can be traced back for centuries. Nobody knows why they have not been totally destroyed, but many have the suspicion that it may include corrupt council members.

"We had begun by travelling together, first looking into the guild's history. The beginning of the mission had been simple; all three of us found the reason why they wanted our power. They aimed for world domination, using the seven dragon types for all areas of strength. We also found how they planned to copy our magic, there were written documents on their kidnapping attempts. Unfortunately, Natsu believed it was enough and returned. His confidence had broken up the group, leading to my lone travels. Master Makarov had allowed for Levy to follow Gajeel in his journeys; her intelligence was greatly appreciated in finding the clues.

"Natsu's information had been a false setup made to trick us. His boastful return had reassured the Dragon's Claw in returning to their original goal; they were, in fact, looking to steal something other than dragon slaying magic. The relief caused a lot of information to fly past and be sealed without trouble. It is only years later that Gajeel, Levy and I have uncovered the truth."

Makarov coughed to raise the others attention. "Wendy, before you continue, allow me to explain the history of the guild's goal."

Receiving her approval, he went on,

"Going back over two decades, the strongest holder mage known to the magic world at the time was Layla Heartphilia; A fully trained mage who, at 29 years of age, was in her prime. The guild's attempt to overpower the magic community was destroyed when Layla sacrificed her life to control the excess magic energy and bring back peace to Fiore.

"Ten years on, Dragon's Claw returned and, in having increased their army and power, they can attack any time they want. In spite of this, older members did not want a repeat of the past and intended to hold full control of their own magic. It just so happened that, at this time of discussion, they came across a famous Fairy Tail mage who, at 17 years old, looked the spitting image of their old enemy. That mage's name was Lucy Heartphilia; she was labelled the young genius master of celestial spirits, having tripled her set of gold keys in a matter of months. However, she was not their only target. They had another lady, who went by the name Katrina Natsume; a woman known to possess the strongest ability in magic manipulation, the sensory ability." Turning back to Wendy, he said "Wendy, I leave the rest of the story to you."

"Thank you, Master. Now, as I was saying, Natsu received false information which had resulted in his firm belief of Lucy's betrayal. The guild had, in fact been targeting mages who had control type magic and abilities. They also had the skills to cover their tracks so deep that we had trouble uncovering the truth some years later." The mage sat down "Natsu had become, in a way, conceited in his knowledge, thinking too much of his own magic ability and ignoring the warning signs around him to protect his nakama. When Master Makarov warned him against a mission the following year, he dismissed the advice, dragging Lucy to the mission as well. They had fallen into Dragon's Claw's trap, having fallen in so deep that groups would either come out stronger than before, or broken beyond repair."

"When Lisanna came to rescue him several days later, she believed Natsu's side of the story. The guild is loyal to the members, but they were with Natsu for far longer and had never known him to lie, unintentionally or maliciously. Because of this, all stood against Lucy when she returned; nobody, not even Erza, was willing to listen to a fairly new member against their own younger brother, who grew up with them and was always an honest and fiercely honourable kid. If he said that Lucy was a traitor, then a traitor she would become in the eyes of the guild and, until the day that Natsu himself can announce her innocence, Lucy will remain a traitor."

During this explanation, Gray could be seen, face in his hands as he recalled the tragedy that happened afterwards. He had understood how Lucy was injured but no one had known the real reason behind it. On recalling something the master had mentioned earlier, he clenched his fists tightly. The guild had targeted Lucy's pregnancy; had they gotten away with their plans, they would have achieved both holder magic and dragon slaying blood from the blonde. Not only that, they would have ensured no obstacles were in their path.

Katrina Natsume. The name sounds so...

Gray straightened up, now fully understanding the master's words.

"Katrina Natsume! That's Blaze's mum isn't it?" Loki looked up, absolutely gobsmacked. On seeing their expressions, Makarov nodded mournfully.

"That is right. I had Levy trace Blaze's blood last night. It is for certain that Katrina is his mother; unfortunately, she did not have the same support from some friends as Lucy did. The entire incident had meant that she was exiled from her own village, the only place she felt comfortable. In addition to this, she was weak in producing magic and couldn't survive long in magic running state. After giving birth, she only lived till Blaze's fifth birthday before falling asleep; the lack of medical support meant that she died soon afterwards, leaving Blaze alone and defenceless. Her old 'friends' only took in the boy to strip him of his inheritance before disposing of him several cities away."

The truth had pierced Gray's heart, a blade twisting itself deeper and deeper, until he couldn't breathe. Blaze, his son Blaze, had lived through such an ordeal. His sweet young boy had grown up, only beginning to remember his mother before her death. His guardians had made sure that he was left with no confidence of ever feeling happiness again.

For once, Gray felt useless. Feeling himself fall into a dark pool of regret, he stopped listening as he tried to control the feeling of unbearable sadness towards Blaze. A slam on a table brought him back to reality; he turned to see a livid Loki standing before him.

"Don't you dare feel regretful, Gray! Blaze was never judged by his past and it's not going to start now! Don't forget Gray, HE'S YOUR SON NOW! Whatever he suffered, you can make him forget it with memories, memories of a real family"

"Thanks mate. I could always rely on you to make me feel better." The ice mage smiled gratefully, shaking his head of negative thoughts. "So, master, what is it that you intend to do, now that you have found out the truth?"

"... I still have Gajeel out there, searching for the exact whereabouts of Dragon's Claw. For now, we cannot do anything, lest we make another mistake a great as Natsu's. Instead, Gray and Loki, please can you encourage the boys to return to the guild? To get Natsu to even listen to Lucy's case, we have to warm him up to his own son first, and nothing can start before the guild finds out the truth of what happened thirteen years ago, even if it kills them because of the guilt."

"It's time to set this guild free of their faults, once and for all."

...

To Be Continued

A/N- Thank you all for reading this chapter. Remember, both Gray and Loki are S-class mages, therefore are very skilled in their magic control. Gray's technique consisted of different elements of magic, including a transformation and manipulation magic to manage his ice 'self'. Thinking about it, the whole idea is bonkers

The suspense is ON.

R&R